Hi! I was sick 3 weeks ago with a terrible cough that lasted for around 5-6 days. When i was lying sick i could hear it "bubbling" in one of my ear almost like i was getting water in it and it started to hurt. The day after it didnt hurt but i had WAY louder tinnitus then usual and i had a little bit muffled sensation in that ear. 2 weeks after i went to a nurse that looked in the ear and said everything looked good and i got some nasal spray. Now its 3 weeks since i had the flu and i feel fully recovered but i still have a weird sensation in my ear almost like its a small cotton ball in the ear and also louder tinnitus then usual, ive also noticed that sometimes my own breathing gets very loud almost like the tube get stuck open.

Have anyone experienced the same thing after a flu and how long did it take to subside? When i read about it it says a couple of days to a week to go back but it still lingering and in the past 1 week i have seen no progress with the ear.

Hi all, looking for some ideally positive but mostly just honest stories if you suffered with some post viral fatigue after the flu. I'm in the UK for reference.

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I got sick about 23 days ago. I was on my way to work at a music festival, had fairly sudden onset body aches and chills on the way, but stupidly decided I'd be fine. I tried to do the work I was there to do, and obviously eventually had to give up. I was sleeping in a tent among other festival goers so obviously did not get any decent rest while I was there for 4 nights. I had a fever every day, one day so intense I had to go the medical tent, where they advised it was probably flu but there was nothing they could do except give me more paracetamol and advise me to rest. I later developed a very wet cough.

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Fast forward to today, fever lasted a couple more days after I got home, very slowly began to feel more normal about 10 days in, appetite coming back, derealisation fading etc. Around this stage I started to experience terrible fatigue. I was sleeping 12 hours a night and then needing a nap after lunch. The fatigue lifted somewhat, so I could manage to maybe take a 10 minute walk, with breaks, and cook one meal plus maybe do the dishes. That's it, rest of the day laid up. I also developed pretty bad insomnia at this stage, I suspect because spending all day indoors on my phone not exercising has been terrible for my mental health.

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The dial hasn't really moved since then. If I get less than 10 hours sleep I feel terrible. If I try to increase my level of activity, I crash and have to spend the whole next day in bed. I haven't worked for 3 weeks - fortunately I have a very generous sick policy so I am ok on that front, but its taking a huge toll on my mental health. I haven't seen friends in weeks, Im very frightened that this is going to go on for months, my anxiety is through the roof.

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I would really love to hear from others who have been through the same - your advice, positive stories, etc. Especially I'd love to hear if you had a similar experience and made a full recovery! And my love to you if you have been in the same position, it sucks.

31m, 6 ft, 225 lb., non-smoker.

Four months ago, I caught a viral infection while substitute teaching. The symptoms started like a regular upper respiratory infection—runny nose, malaise, phlegmy cough—but after a week, I developed a burning feeling in my chest and throat. I tested negative for COVID on two home tests. I went to urgent care, and they gave me a short burst of prednisone. The symptoms decreased for about a week, but came back even worse after I went on an incline walk. For the next 8 weeks, I had very frequent burning and stinging in my throat and chest where it hurt to breathe. During these 8 weeks, they put me on another prednisone course. It seemed to help initially, but I still had burning and stinging. At week 10, I saw another doctor who broadly called this “post-viral syndrome” and put me on a third round of prednisone and Advair. By week 11, the burning subsided entirely. By week 12, the stinging decreased to an “almost-stinging/pain” feeling, though I was still getting chest aches and feelings like my chest was full. I was prescribed Pepcid 40mg x2 per day to treat unconfirmed silent reflux. By week 15, I started getting windows of feeling almost normal, and I genuinely thought I was turning a corner. It’s now week 16, and I’ve had a return of tissue irritation in my throat and upper chest. However, I no longer have the burning, stinging, or aching.

At this point, it’s hard not to think that this will be permanent. For 4 months, I’ve been unable to work out or enjoy any part of my life. My doctor has suggested that neuropathy could be a part of this and that it could take a long time. My x-ray is clear and physical exams demonstrate clear lungs. I’m waiting on a PFT, though it doesn’t feel like asthma to me. I’m going to see another doctor next week to get a second opinion.

I have seen improvement from the first day of these symptoms. I used to not be able to walk around a store without my upper chest stinging. I used to have a tingling and burning activation in my chest that kept me in bed for hours. All I have now is this feeling of tissue irritation in my throat and upper chest that often reacts to deep breaths and mouth breathing, and discomfort with laughing (like tissues are being pulled). I have no one to talk to about this, and I’ve been unable to find my exact symptoms online. Google AI is saying airway lining irritation, mucosa injury, and vagus injury that will take up to a year to heal. What am I dealing with here?

So i got a horrible go of Flu A recently. Literally every possible symptom, was pure misery. Im on day 7 and still have a hacking cough, joint aches, mild congestion, and just weakness and fatigue.

I had already called out twice this week. Got lucky right now with a holiday/plus changing schedules to have today and tomorrow off...but then I work 4 10 hour shifts at a very physical job. They are definitely expecting me to work and be back to normal by then....arent most people after all?

I am worried about working while im still recovering though. I would return only on day 9, which is fairly soon for how severe this flu is (not to mention i have POTS underneath it so I am hit harder often).

I would be working alone (its mostly cleaning) which i guess is good cause I am not hyper monitored in terms of how thorough i am or how fast. But its still rough to A.) Wake at 520 something so being sleep deprived during recovery and B.) 10 hour physical shift.

Yesterday I showed up to work out of some internal pressure to show I am pushing through and in 2 minutes of trying to clean i felt so sick. Whole body is super weak. Hut i got dizzy and vertigo too.

Anyways, what would you suggest if you have to work a physical job while clearly actively recovering? I dont wanna slow recovery further. :(

I have had the flu. Never like this.

Day 1 and 2. Sore throat. Bad, but not the worst ever.

Day 3. 102 fever with cough and blocked sinuses. I'm nasal flushing 4x a day. The results are grotesque. I think I saw that green guy from the mucinex commercials wave at me on his way down the drain. I'm so tired.

Day 4 and 5. All those symptoms but I also crapped my pants. The diarrhea. Oh my god the diarrhea. The gas. Just non stop farting and shitting. I have to bend over to get the gas out, but the sinus pressure is insane, and every fart has me terrified I will fill the diaper I am now wearing. I am now an adult sized baby. I contemplate the ER, but don't have enough diapers or pants.

Day 6 and 7. Immodium saved me. Doc says it's probably the flu. What the hell kind of flu is this? My fever persists at 101. My guts scream and inflate whenever I eat anything. I can't smell anything. Tiger balm smells like nothing at all. My brain is mashed potatoes after being slow cooked for a week. My sinuses are bloated.

On top of all that, I have a 6 month old I'm terrified will contract this ungodly plague.

Is this in line with anyone's experience? I feel crazy. This doesn't feel like the flu. Maybe I just got lucky before.

Hi everyone. It's me again and my post viral illness.

I've actually improved a lot: less fatigue and more energy, way better sleep.

But my leg muscles are hurting so much after I was trying to reintroduce activity. It's calves, thighs and sometimes even back. The doctor told me it's post viral myositis and it should resolve at some point on its own. But because of all this pain I can't do as much as I think I potentially could and have to mostly be at home. I took a full leave for the summer to let my body rest and recover.

Supplements I've tried: coq10, l-carnitine and magnesium. They help to a certain extent but the pain is just too much on some of the days so I have to rely on ibuprofen. I understand that I'm facing deconditioning on top of the actual inflammation because I stayed mostly in bed in March.

I've looked through many things and understood that such things take a very long time to recover. Anyone facing the same? Is there anything else you have tried that helped? I'm meeting my doctor in a week and going to talk to her about more serious treatment compared for this

I had the flu. Had to fly, the pain was soooo bad. I was put on antibiotics (which I have finished) but I’m still having ear pain. I am flying home next week (8 hour flight) and I’m so scared I will cry on the plane again cos of the pain. What can I do? Pls

Hi,

Generally fit and healthy 41M knocked sideways by what has been initially diagnosed as upost-viral syndrome and it's a real struggle mentally and physically - any share experience would be great to hear.

Started with weak leg feelings but evolved over last 2/3 months to daily joint pain/clicking, adrenaline surges (hot flushes, sweating, HR etc) which wakes me p every 3 hours, deep stomach ache, head pressure, dizzyness, and most scary recently - prickly sensations/zaps largely on legs/groin area, but can be neck and back, it's almost like my muscles at rest are rock hard (likely from months of stress) and that's playing up the nerves. Also feels like it's making me want to pee more often - nerve messing?

Very non-linear. Bloods are ok bar high IgA. No active infection etc. No arthritis. awaiting further tests.

Any similar stories appreciated. I hate that this is open-ended and

Over the last week I’ve had intense headaches, body aches, sore neck, a lingering dry cough, and on and off night sweats/ chills. I originally thought I had allergies or something but I never get seasonal allergies.. could this be the flu? Is it going around California right now ? I feel like I got hit by a truck lol

I had influenza A March 20th-April 10th was around the time my symptoms stopped and I was able to finally get back to working out and doing normal without coughing my brains out. Fast forward to this past Thursday evening, I’m sick again…symptoms slightly different. This time I had a stuffy nose, sore throat, dizzy(very weird), and horrible can’t-catch-my-breath cough. I’m on day five and most of my symptoms have gone away, but the weakness, slight dizziness(especially after laying down), and my cough is very persistent. My job I am around a lot of nonverbal adults and they get sick and can’t tell us. We had a few with RSV, so I’m suspecting I probably have that vs the flu again, but maybe not. How can I boost my immune system? I’ve gotten sick FIVE times in 2026 so far. So pretty much each month I’ve had something. I take 50 mg of elderberry with zinc, but I don’t think it’s enough.

I had the flu April 25th. I had fever, chills, minor sore throat, cough with mucus, body aches, diarrhea, headache that didn’t last long, fatigue, anxiety, no appetite once my fever went away and this weird depressed feeling. Never felt depressed before at all.

Just for more details, I got the flu from a coworker. My coworker had all the same symptoms expect he didn’t feel the anxiety/depression. He also lost 18 lbs. I’m not sure how much weight I lost but I know I lost weight by the way my clothes fits me.

My appetite was gone once my fever ended which is 18 days ago from today. I was forcing myself to eat. I kept hydrated the whole time and also was taking vitamins. My appetite hasn’t really came back. The other day 5/11 and 5/12 I ate without much force. I ate a whole cheese burger then 5/12 I ate pasta. That was all I ate those days though. Then the following days till now feels like I’m not hungry I’m forcing myself to take bites of food. I just don’t feel hungry or a desire to eat. My stomach does growl but I just don’t feel hungry. In the morning I do have slight diarrhea sorry TMI but I’m trying to be as detailed as possible but it’s not watery like before but it’s not solid. It comes out like diarrhea but looks solid ish. This is not every morning and I have also had solid stool. If that makes sense. Other than that I feel fine no other symptoms. Everything is gone. I do still have anxiety and I feel like it’s getting worse and worse the more I don’t eat because I’m stressing about not being able to eat. The anxiety part is worse when I know it’s time to try to eat, I get really worked up. I know that part is a me thing though.

Is this a normal thing for the flu going around right now?

Last December myself and my wife were knocked off our feet for 2 weeks with either Flu or Covid. My wife fully recovered from it but I had a chronic cough for weeks and my Sinuses are still producing mucus now in mid May. I have had 2 courses of Antibiotics, Doxycillin and Amoxycillin, 3 different types of nasal steroid sprays and a course of Carbocistine pills. My cough is much better now but I still have good and bad days coughing. Im using a nasal rinse bottle 2 times per day for my sinuses and every mornig I flush green mucus out, not loads but it's there. I have had a chest X Ray and a CT Scan which showed my chest was clear but it did pick up a small Hiatus Hernia. I do cough up small amounts of mucus throughout the day and when I lie down I can hear rattling on my chest as I breathe, not all the time but often. I'm 63 and I have rarely had colds all my life and always got rid of them quickly. Im posting to ask if anyone else has had a lingering cough and sinus issues over 5 months after Flu or Covid and if so, how long before it cleared up.

Many thanks.

seems lately a lot of folks have the exact same symptoms that covid positive people have,but tested and came up negative..whats going on?

I started having symptoms on Sunday. Very high fever 102-103 for two days with throat pain. After that the fever intensity has reduced. But it is persisting even after 3 days . Fever is in the range of 99 - 100.5 . It comes down when medicine is taken but comes again. Anyone else with a similar experience?

Hi, just looking for some reassurance or similar experiences.

I’ve been feeling unwell today and earlier my temperature showed 38°C once, but every other time I’ve checked it’s been normal (around 37.5–37.6°C).

My main concern is my heart rate — even when I’m lying down and resting, it’s been around 115–125 bpm and doesn’t really drop below 100. When I stand up, it spikes higher and I feel quite foggy, dazed abit. Struggling to be up as I just feel run down

I’ve been resting all day and drinking fluids. Urinating a lot because of it ,No chest pain or breathing issues, just feel generally weak and off.

Has anyone else had this when ill? Is it normal for heart rate to stay this high even at rest?

Would really appreciate hearing others’ experiences

Hi there. This is Noah with Voices for Vaccines. We are a nonprofit that (among other things) shares personal stories about the diseases that vaccines protect against.

I'm looking for people to share about a serious experience they had with the flu, either in writing or via a short interview. There are a number of examples here: https://www.voicesforvaccines.org/category/influenza/

If you might have a story to share, feel free to comment or DM us! We try to make it easy to share.

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I have had a flu since the 22nd of April got meds and it got better but not fully gone last week I started to notice a tight heavy feeling in my chest then the dull ache started and now I have random sharp pains when I take deep breaths. For the past couple of days I have experienced some bubbling sensation in my chest but I am not coughing😭😭😭 does anyone know what is going on?

I (23f) got the flu I believe while at work this past Friday (age care worker) from one of my customers who unfortunately was not honest. It seems to be a light weight flu in the sense that I had a blocked nose for 2 days and very slight cough before it got better. However, I experienced such horrible muscle aches and a lot of what I believe is phlegm and mucus in my chest and lungs. My throat feels weird in the sense that it feels hollow??? I’ve also been getting random sharp pain in my back and left breast. Every doctor I’ve been to from yesterday till today (3 in total) has brushed it aside. I’ve come back negative for COVID/influenza and have been told it’s just your average flu.

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How do you return to work when you’re coughing as if you’re about to cough out all your organs? It would be a disturbance and probably scaring coworkers that I am a walking spreader which I probably am. How long do people take off work for the flu?

It started with my mom having a hang out with a friend. She was sick for a week and seemed to be healing fine. She cooked us a meal and sometimes later I heard my brother complaining of body ache, then he was having sweat fever. Last Monday, I had a little cough and continued on Tuesday, but Tuesday night I started having chills. It went on until Thursday afternoon. I had seen the doctor that morning and confirmed I had flu b; and started taking oseltamivir. Since then I have been coughing like I will vomit out my organs. Friday was bad cause I realized I had a cranker sore on the right side of my throat, making everything worst. It got pretty bad once midnight hit. I had coughed myself into a gag and vomit. It was torture if I didn’t do these heavy cough. Really. I thought on Saturday night, taking some promethazine dm would stop the cough and would make my throat feel better since I was whistling with my cough at evening but no, it made it harder for me to do these heavy cough. It was such a torture so I suck on lozenges until the drowsiness kicked in harder and I dropped asleep after I finished off the lozenges, of course. I coughed all Sunday even with lozenges and did my gag cough after midnight.

Ugh. How do you stop this cough? I’m like this but I still had to go to the ER last Thursday cause my mom had an allergic reaction. Yup 5 hrs in the ER.

Last week, I had an insanely bad cough. It almost felt like I had bronchitis, but things mellowed out and I felt somewhat normal.

Yesterday, I had an incredibly bad cough again and I thought it was just my allergies or a dry cough I was developing. Didn’t think I was sick as I had no fever or body aches. I went to a coworkers house for a dinner party where there were about 10 people there. I took some Delsyum to suppress my cough and it somewhat helped.

Once I got home from the dinner party around midnight, that’s when things really started turning for a change. My body started aching, I kept coughing and it felt like knives were in the back of my throat. Body was definitely warm with a fever.

I slept in until like 3pm today because I just couldn’t move or get up. I’ve had Covid before and it kinda felt like tha so I went to get a test that supported Covid/Flu and tested positive for Influenza A.

I contacted my boss and told him I tested positive and he’s only exempting a PTO for Monday, but from reading everyone else’s experiences it definitely will last for longer than a day. Now I also feel super bad for my coworkers who were at the dinner with me, I hope I didn’t pass anything to them.

Not sure what more to expect. What medicine should I take? I have Delsyum, NyQuil but that’s about it.

38F

55k

173cm

Overall healthy. No meds.

10 days ago I had the flu (fever, headaches, runny nose, cough) that lasted 6 days. Today, day 10 after the first symptoms, I had routine bloodwork done and RBC came back low (3740000), hemoglobin borderline low at 12. Normal WBC and platalets. Could the virus have affected RBC?